A Whole Bunch of One Shots
by thefiresensei
Summary: What it says on the tin, a hopefully growing collection of one shots featuring our favourite ninja.
1. Exasperated

**This is my submission for Ninjago Writer's Day on Tumblr. It's the first time I've written a proper one shot, so something new for me! The idea is to try and do something new which you have not done before, so stretching yourself, so this is not a fluff or angst based story, and no sign of Kailor!**

 **I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

 ** _Exasperated._ **

Cole groaned, scratched at his head with the end of his pencil and then let out a triumphant "A ha!" as he abruptly leant over, vigorously scribbling a circle onto the sheet he had at the table. The Master of Earth leant back in his chair again, holding the sheet up and farrowing his thickset eyebrows, absentmindedly chewing on the end of the long-suffering pencil. Kai looked over from his spot where he was lounging on the sofa, his interest piqued. He closed down the stupidly addictive game he had been playing on his phone, raising a brow.

"Watcha doing?" The Master of Fire stood up and stretched, shoving his BorgPhone back into his hoodie pocket before sauntering over to the kitchen table where the earth elemental was frowning and muttering, staring at the sheet intently.

"This. It's a word search. Jay gave it to me saying it was really easy." He held up the offending article to Kai whose eyes flickered over the page, noting only a couple of the words at the side had been crossed out and circled within the higgledy-piggledy mash up of letters within the grid. Cole slyly smiled; yes! He was hooked.

"You wanna have a go?" He waggled the sheet under Kai's nose, who snatched it up and sat himself down, grinning.

"Yeah, this'll be a piece of cake. Especially if _Jay_ can do it. But I'm not using your pencil, urgh." Kai waved the offered, severally chewed up pencil, away, reaching over to the pot in the middle of the table and grabbing himself a new one.

"If you're that hungry, Cole, you should get yourself a snack or something." The fire elemental cracked his knuckles and chuckled, smirking to himself. This was going to be easy.

"Well, ok then. I'm just going to, uh, freshen myself up. I'll be back in a bit to see how you're doing." Cole exited the room, looking over his shoulder and smiling as he made his way through the door. Ha, that was too easy…

* * *

The blue and black clad ninjas peered carefully through the crack in the doorway, Jay earning a crack around the head when he nearly snorted out loud watching their red clad friend scratch his head and frown.

"It's going to keep him busy for hours!"

Cole grinned, folding his arms and smiling smugly. "I know."

They watched as Kai groaned out loud, impatiently tapping the pencil on the table as he leant closer to the sheet, muttering to himself. Jay straightened up, a curious mixture of horror and unadulterated glee on his face.

"What if he loses it and sets it on fire?" Cole put his hand over his mouth, stifling a chuckle.

"Oh, I hope he does!"

They both sighed as they heard whistling coming from the open front doorway, watching with baited breath as Zane strolled in, no doubt just having returned from the New Ninjago library judging from the pile of books he deposited onto the other end of the table.

"What are you doing, my friend?" Kai barely acknowledged the nindroid's presence, just flinging over a soft grunt and a small wave as he continued to pour over the wordsearch.

"Hmm?" Zane walked over, leaning over the red ninja's shoulder. "Oh, a wordsearch. I did not know you enjoyed these. An excellent choice for keeping the mind sharp. I must admit I am pleasantly surprised at you, Kai."

The Master of Fire looked up, leaning back in his chair and holding the puzzle up.

"Yeah, but I can't find this last one." He stabbed at the sheet with the pencil. "And hey, what do you mean you're surprised? My mind is sharp!"

"That it is, Kai. My apologies, no offense meant. Can I help?" The Master of Ice slid himself into the chair next to Kai, who sighed and pushed the sheet over.

"Sure, here you go. Just do me a favour and don't tell Cole you helped me." Zane, not taking his brilliant blue eyes off the sheet, smiled and nodded.

"Of course. Now, let's see…"

* * *

Ten minutes later and Kai was pacing, Zane staring intently at the wordsearch as he continuously scanned the sheet, the blue and black ninjas in silent creases behind the door.

"I'm telling you Zane, Jay has completed it so it must be in there!" Kai wringed his hands, snatching the wordsearch from the nindroid's hands.

Zane frowned. "Kai, it is not there. I have scanned it numerous times and checked it with several differing algorithms. That final word is not in the wordsearch."

"Urgh!" Kai slammed the sheet down, leaning over it and using his finger to simultaneously check through each letter individually, desperately hunting for the word.

"Hey guys! What's that you're doing?" The green ninja strolled in, dumping his bag down next to Zane's forgotten pile of books, heading over and looking over the red ninja's shoulder.

"Oh!" Lloyd put a hand up to his face and couldn't contain the snigger. Kai looked up sharply.

"What?" His eyes were fierce, demanding an immediate reason for the snigger.

"I found this in Wu's office the other day, it's missing a word. Now which one was it…?"

Kai straightened, head whipping round to the doorway where Cole and Jay were now howling, unable to contain themselves any longer. He strode over and pulled the door open, the two accomplices falling over into a heap of roaring laughter.

"You two!" The red ninja bellowed, causing the two to scramble up and hastily move away from their unwitting target, still laughing. Jay looked over to Cole, literally snorting, tears running down his face.

"We're going to die! But it was so worth it!" The blue ninja squealed and ran out to the training yard as the fire elemental lit up his hands.

"I'm going to roast the pair of you!" Cole turned and ran after the Master of Lightning, screaming out as he ran,

"So worth it!"

Lloyd and Zane watched the chaos unfolding in front of them, Zane standing and readying his own powers, preparing to put out the fires that Kai was no doubt about to start trying to catch his brothers. Lloyd sniggered as he picked the wordsearch up. All of the words were scribbled out from the list and neatly circled in the grid except one; the missing one. He laughed as he spoke the word out loud, turning to go and help his brothers escape from their roasting.

 _"_ _Exasperated."_


	2. Suffering

**So I wrote this for the Ninjago Writer's Day as well, only a shorty. I've never really been taken with Misako's character, so I thought it might be a good idea to explore her a little.**

* * *

 _ **Suffering**_

Misako knew what suffering looked like.

She could see it in his bright green eyes as she turned and walked away, desperately trying to block out his confused cries, becoming louder and more demanding the further she walked from him. Until eventually it was just a whisper, filled with hurt and pain. And suffering.

She also knew what it sounded like. The suffering.

The crying she could hear as she got into her car and started the engine, catching a fleeting glimpse in the mirror of her boy's beautiful green eyes following her before he was roughly bundled through the door of the school by the headmaster, the door slamming shut as she felt his final, silent cry.

Those same eyes who had looked up into hers as he had been bundled into her exhausted arms after hours of labour, her first glimpse of his crying little pink body after his birth, all long, gangly limbs splayed out as he was lifted into her open arms, imprinted into her mind, never to be erased, along with the time that he had entered this world: 17.07. His crying stopping as she had held him, hugging him tightly, looking into those wide, innocent blue eyes which blinked back at her as she cradled him. Those same eyes which had blinked tears away now as she had turned from him, the bright baby blues being replaced by his own, luminescent green by around the age of six months. Garmy had proudly wrapped an arm around them both as they had become a family.

A family now broken by the suffering.

She looked into the mirror, blinking her own tears away as she looked at the haunted vision of the woman she had thought she was, suddenly aged beyond her years, lines of worry, pain and frustration etching her face. She reached for the door handle and opened the door, one foot out and touching the solid ground of the Darkley's driveway.

But she stopped. She could not.

She _must_ not.

This is how it had to be.

As much as it hurt her, and her beloved son. This was the only way to save them all.

She pulled her foot back in and quickly, resolutely slammed the door shut, not daring to look back as she started the ignition and swung the car quickly out of the gates, gravel and dust clouding up behind her from under the car's wheels.

She made it to the Ninjago City outer ringway before her hardened expression finally broke, and she had to pull over as the tears wreaked over her body, deep shuddering tears of remorse and regret.

And her old friend, suffering.


	3. Just Another Day of the Departed

**Just Another Day of the Departed.**

 **This is set before Hands of Time, so Kai does not know that his parents are alive. If you have read my fic, In Your Eyes, I refer to this moment when Kai is reminiscing about when he first kissed Skylor properly… " _They had kissed before, once as a shy, egged on peck as they had both somehow found themselves under the mistletoe someone had managed to sneak up above the doorway to Master Chen's when he had been on his way out a couple of Christmases ago (his money was on Lloyd to thank for that one). Once again after a few too many sake's on his part, a night probably best not thinking about too much…"_**

 **Happy Day of The Departed!**

* * *

Today was always the day he dreaded the most. He could handle their birthdays, just about. And he could handle the day they disappeared on with help from some strategic distractions. This was easier to manage as Nya did not remember the date they "left", so he could just about scrape by in pretence that it was just a normal day and he was just having what the others referred to as a "Kai moment", where he just needed to let off a little more steam than normal on a training dummy. Or the nearest inanimate object.

But he could handle it.

Just.

But this day, no, this was the most difficult of _those_ days.

In some of the years gone by he just could not do it, leaving Nya by herself to light the lanterns. How could he try to remember the two people he had needed the most positively when they had just abandoned them? One year he had taken himself off on his blade cycle, full throttle under the stars until he could manage to bring himself to stop, dirt kicking out behind the screeching tires as he pulled over, the tears streaming down his face. Another year he had gone the other way and disappeared into the city, finding an underground fight and taking his pain out on his opponent, the others averting their eyes from the bruises colouring his torso when they had gotten ready for training the next morning. But every time he took himself off alone the guilt he felt at having left his little sister to cope by herself ate away at him, and he vowed to never leave her alone on the Day of the Departed again.

Until the next year, when it just got too much. And he left her. Again.

Just like he had now.

Kai stumbled through the door, throwing himself down into his usual booth and trying to look casual. The restaurant was busy, filled with merry makers no doubt on their way over to the plaza for the formal Ninjago City Day of the Departed festivities. There was no way he was going there tonight though. He grabbed the menu, glancing over the choices quickly, not really needing to look at it as he virtually knew all the offerings by heart, but he needed to keep himself busy so that he did not look like he was just staring around the place for her like a mad man.

And there she was. Red hair swinging as she made her way round her guests, chatting and laughing with them, being the perfect hostess as she always was.

Perfect.

The sudden hiccup made him jump, and he groaned, rubbing a hand over his eyes. He should not have had that last sake… He took a deep breath and tried to hold it in, eyes closed as he tried to quell the building hiccup inside him.

"Kai! I didn't expect to see you here tonight." _Damn._ He reopened his eyes, frowning lightly as she swam into his vision, slightly blurred and definitely with more eyes than she should have. He grinned, hoping it was his adorable, winner grin.

"Hi Sky- _hic_ -lor." His hand flew up to his mouth and she just stood staring at him for an agonizingly long moment before softly laughing and sitting down opposite him, asking one of her staff to get them two bowls of chicken udon, two cherry cokes and a large glass of tap water. He dropped his head onto the table as his treacherous body hiccupped again, groaning. _Just perfect._

They sat silently for a while, Skylor bemusedly watching the hiccupping red ninja who continued to sit with his forehead against the table. Eventually she placed a hand on his shoulder and softly called his name. He lifted his head slightly, one eye peering out at her from under flopped spike. She smiled, rubbing his shoulder.

"I guess you're finding tonight tough, huh?"

He closed his eyes in response, taking a deep breath before pulling himself up and slouching back against the booth seating. Thankfully the hiccupping seemed to have peetered out…

"Uh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come. I'll just go…" He went to get up but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back down, frowning.

"You're not in a fit state to be going anywhere right now Kai, come on, get some of this inside you." Right on cue their food had arrived and he took grateful gulps of the water, placing the glass back down on the table a little too carefully and a little too loudly, the red ninja wincing at the sound. Oh but the noodles tasted even better than normal…

"What?" Her soft laughter as he ate made him suddenly paranoid, and he paused, looking up wide eyed, chopsticks and udon in mid-air.

"Ha! I'm sorry Kai, but I can see why you ninja aren't supposed to drink alcohol!" he looked down at the mess he had made on the table, pushing the bowl away and blowing out his cheeks, embarrassed.

"Please don't tell Wu."

He looked down in surprise at his hand as she took hold of it in hers.

"I'm not going to tell Wu. Or any of the others."

He gazed up into her eyes, blinking sadly as he whispered his thanks.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He shook his head, looking away from her eyes but heart racing as he realised they still held onto each other's hands above the table.

"You know, I don't find today easy either. That's why I always work it, keeps me busy you know?" He took another breath and looked up at her, looking into those beautiful green eyes and loosing himself.

Before he knew it he had leant over the table and kissed her. Just a quick, fumbled kiss but a kiss no less. She straightened, sitting upright, shocked, blinking and looking away, their hands shooting apart. _Urgh, idiot! Stupid, stupid idiot…_

He leant his elbow on the table and dropped his head into his hand, stumbling.

"I am so sorry. I don't know why I did that."

An awkward silence descended, neither meeting the other's eyes, Skylors watching her customers whilst Kai distracted himself fiddling with the label on his coke bottle.

"Come on, lets get you home." She rose, holding out a hand to help the master of fire who was now red in more than just clothing up, waving off his money for the food as she guided him outside to wait for the taxi she had just requested for him. They both leant on the wall waiting, both silent but his mind racing with curses. Eventually the little yellow car pulled up, the driver winding down his window and enquiring "For Kai?" at the couple. Kai nodded and reached for the car door handle but stopped as he felt her hand pulling him back.

"What is i-…" the question cut short as she pulled him into her, lips meeting his intently. They melted into each other, ignoring the whistles from passers-by, eventually parting and looking at each other in wonder.

"Erm, Skylor, not that I'm complaining but, ah, I'm a bit confused…" Kai scratched at his head, shrugging slightly as he leant back on the taxi, wishing his head would unfog. She looked down and grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, I, uh, kind of wanted a distraction tonight too. And, well, I guess… Sorry."

He straightened up, one hand hesitantly reaching up and cupping her chin, his face leaning into hers, murmuring "I don't mind being your distraction." before planting a soft, more lingering kiss onto her, both of them smiling and giggling as they broke apart.

"Go home, red ninja." He grinned, mock saluting her and throwing himself into the patiently waiting taxi, blowing her a kiss as the taxi pulled out into the busy night time traffic and watching as some of the fireworks started to burst above.

Maybe Day of the Departed did not have to be so bad after all.


	4. Ninjago Valentine’s Week 1

**This is a one shot for the Ninjago Valentine's week on Tumblr, this is Day 1, my first ship, of course it's Kailor!**

"Shhhhh! Jay! You'll wake them!"

"What? Wake who...? Oh! Oh that's so sweet! Wow! Does this mean...Ow! What was that for?"

"Sheesh Jay, shush will you?! Come on..."

Too late, Kai stretched slightly, raising his bedraggled, sleepy head from the depths of the sofa, looking across to the others gathered in the doorway to the small communal room they'd put together on the Bounty. Cole was pulling on an excited Jay's arm whilst Lloyd and Zane peered in with interest. A look of pure joy appeared to be flushed across Nya's face as she peered in behind Lloyd. The small tv they had managed to save enough cash for was noisily playing static across its screen from its place mounted on the wall, the film they had put on apparently long finished.

Groaning, Kai reached a hand up sluggishly, rubbing at his neck which was protesting at the angle he had managed to fall asleep in whilst the other scraped through the ruffed up spikes, pulling them back up into place.

"See, they're awake anyway, Cole." Jay managed to break free, launching himself and perching on the end of the sofa, sticking his tongue out at the frowning earth ninja before focussing his attention back to the yawning Master of Fire.

"So, come on then. How long have you two finally been back on for?" The blue ninja raised an eyebrow, grinning with delight as he lightly punched the red clad arm. "You dark horse, Kai."

Skylor moaned lightly, raising her head up slowly from where it had been cradled into Kai's neck, her back pressed into the sofa cushions, legs entwined with his. Blinking heavily she began trying to detangle herself from the mass of limbs on the couch which they had become, rubbing at her eyes and nearly knocking the popcorn over from its precarious perch on Kai's legs. Finally managing to sit up she met his gaze, her features softening and lighting up as she returned his small smile.

Jay was now bouncing, barely contained.

"So come on, does this mean you two are finally back on? You've sorted yourselves out?"

Kai's eyes flicked back from the energy filled blue ones to her green ones, and her smile widened. He leaned down, planting a tender kiss on her soft lips. They lingered as they pulled apart slightly, breathlessly gazing at each other through hooded eyes as Jay whooped in the background. Laughing playfully, Skylor launched a handful of the popcorn at the blue ninja before Kai pulled her back down for a sudden, deep kiss.

"Alright you two, keep it decent, young eyes here you know." Cole mocked as he covered Lloyd's eyes, being met with an indignantly blurted hey! followed by a quick punch to the earth ninja's black clad, lightly armoured arm. Kai slowly drew back, not breaking eye contact from her as the usual chaos began to descend around them.

"I've always loved you." the redhead's whisper was so soft he nearly didn't hear her over the bedlam surrounding them, her hands nervously toying with his hoodie zipper as she spoke. Kai gently reached up and brushed her long, side swept fringe back from her face, his fingers lightly tracing the soft skin of her cheeks before taking her hands in his, smiling.

"I always knew. And I'll always love you."

"Awwww... Right! I call a movie night!" Jay suddenly dove off the sofa arm, launching for the dvd collection scattered on the floor, Cole hot on his heels. They barely noticed as Zane flicked the tv back on, Jay arguing with Cole over what film they were going to put on, Nya busying herself making more popcorn whilst Pix and Lloyd start dragging the spare cushions and blankets into the lounge area, getting ready to bunk down for a late night filmathon, the whole team together. Kai and Skylor cuddled up together obliviously, wrapping themselves in one of the blankets stolen from Lloyd, lost in each other and excitedly chattering and laughing between themselves, taking no notice of the whirlwind of ninjas and samurai around them or the movie beginning to blast out.

"You two aren't going to be talking all the way through the film are you?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow cheekily, looking back up at the pair from where he was laid across Cole's legs on the floor, jelly beans spilling out around him.

Cole grinned, torillas spilling from his mouth.

"Nope, they're totally going to be making out all the way through."

Kai threw a cushion in response, managing to knock the bowl of Doritos all over the sniggering Master of Earth. Skylor chuckled, winking at Cole as she nuzzled herself back against the Master of Fire's warm chest, smiling at the chaos around them.

She looked up, whispering into the fire ninja's ear.

"Sounds a good plan to me. Can we?"

She almost burst out laughing as Kai's face flushed, clashing with his hoodie as he looked down at her, wrapping his arm around her tighter before planting a kiss firmly on her lips, pulling away slightly as he murmured back,

"Totally."


	5. Ninjago Valentine's Week 2

**I'm a little late, but here is my day 2 contribution for evelinaonline 's Valentine's Week. The prompt is rare ships - I'm not sure if this truly qualifies, but I had fun writing it!**

 **Have a little Wu and Faith...**

* * *

Wu watched as she ran her hand down Firstbourne's snout, the magnificent red beast responding to her, lifting its head and pushing its great muzzle into her hand, golden eyes narrowing in pleasure.

"Yes, you like this don't you?"

Firstbourne snorted, blowing out a blast of hot air and sending Faith's dark ponytail shooting back behind her. She laughed, throwing her head back.

She looked magnificent.

Wu shook himself, leaning against his bo staff, a smile forming under the long, white beard despite himself. After all the hassle and drama which had been caused after he had fallen – hard – for Misako, he had promised himself, no he had _vowed_ , that there would be no other.

And yet here he was, an elderly man who should, and did, know better, watching her and feeling…feeling… like _this_.

He had forgotten what it felt like to feel like this.

He shook his head. Ridiculous. Nothing good could ever come of these feelings and he needed to let them go. She was far too young for him and he was far too busy, what with the ninja, his brother on the loose on top of needing to help rebuild Ninjago. Again.

"Wu. Did you hear me?"

"Uh, uh what?" He looked up sharply, the bo staff nearly falling from under him as straightened, realising she had been talking to him whilst he had been occupied by his foolish daydreams.

"Wu…are you alright?" Her clipped accent rolled around him and he took a slight, subtle step back as she reached out, a hand lightly resting on his arm.

"I said that myself and Firstbourne, we will need to leave for the First Realm, soon."

"Oh." _Oh…_

He looked down, quickly regathering himself, putting the sensei mask firmly back in place.

"Yes, of course." His heart dropped and he swallowed. Quickly he steeled himself and tried to avert his attention to the ninja training behind them. His aged grey eyes watched the fluid movements of the water and fire ninja moving together, apparently showing his grandson some of the intricacies of one of the sword katas. The ice ninja was sparring with the earth ninja, whilst the lightning one was… FSM what was Jay doing?

Both Wu and Faith turned their heads to the side, both wearing matching frowns as they watched, puzzled, as the blue ninja took off, sprinting towards the perimeter edge, his hands thrown above him, nunchuks spinning above his head. The look of unadulterated glee was evident across the freckled face as he let out a long whoop of joy.

"Huh, there is never a dull moment in this realm." Faith turned and fixed Wu with an unblinking stare.

"Unfortunately, no. There is not."

He took in her large, soulful eyes, the bright sunlight reflecting in her dark hair. Her resolute manner and charisma shone through. If only he had stayed younger for just a little bit longer…

He took her hand, squeezing firmly. "We would love you to stay longer, but I know you must be anxious to return."

She smiled, staring intently into the energetic, wise eyes. If only he was a bit younger…

"I am. But we will see you again soon, no?"

All three leaders of their respective groups turned at the sudden loud crash as Jay and Kai collided, ear splitting and slightly offensive hollering filling the air.

Wu let out an exasperated sigh, running a hand down his beard before turning to her, his eyes lighting up.

"Absolutely."


	6. Ninjago Valentine's Week 3

**So this is today's prompt from the Ninjago Valentine's Week, favourite canon ship (yes, my favourite ship by far is Kailor, but I've already written some for that so thought I'd throw in some Jaya!). I kinda mighta missed out a couple of other of the prompts although I do plan to catch them up soon…**

 **This is set before Nya becomes the water ninja; I've also always thought of Jay as being super insecure… I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 ** _Heated Seats._**

Twirling the pencil in his hands, Jay sighed and lent over, electric blue eyes narrowing as he stared at the blueprint spread out in front of him.

 _Nope, this was not going to work._

He raked a hand through the reddish brown hair, sending the already manic loose curls into a halo of fluff. Leaning back in his chair so that it balanced precariously on the two back legs, his own legs swinging as he hummed, he looked down at the sheet, eyebrows furrowed.

 _No, no, no… this would not do._

Furiously, he reached out and scrawled across the thin blue paper, the lead of the pencil dragging through and ripping into the delicate fibres.

"Urgh!"

The chair slammed back down onto four legs as he threw his forehead down onto the table, thumping it lightly as he groaned, screwing his eyes shut tightly.

 _This is not…not fair!_

His hand grabbed at the sheet under him, crumpling it within his fist.

 _Kai… Kai gets to be the confident one, the one who has no issues getting what he wanted. No doubt up on his bunk right now chirping to some girl or other, no care in the world._

 _And Zane, Zane's just so damn smart, and clever, and calm and just so collected._

 _Cole is just so cool. So quirky cool. And confident, but in a different way to Kai…_

 _And even Lloyd, he's just…well how do you describe someone as awesome as the green ninja?_

 _Whereas me…_ Jay groaned again, his head turning to the side as he pulled the sheet out from under him, holding the crumpled, torn page up into the dim light.

 _I'm supposed to be an inventor… what the others don't realise is that I totally suck at it._

Jay let out a small, strangled laugh, burying his head in the crook of his elbow, closing his eyes.

 _Just like I suck at life, and everything else in general._

The sudden scrape of the chair opposite him made him jump out of his skin _some ninja, huh?_ and he blinked, taking in the dark bobbed hair, the grease smeared dungarees flung on over a red shirt (which she had blatantly stolen from her brother) hanging loosely from her petite frame, oil splattered converse tucked under her as she perched on the chair, leaning forward and snatching at the blueprint.

"So watcha working on, Mr Blue Ninja?" He was too slow to stop Nya from seizing the failed design sheet, and he frowned before a nervous laugh escaped him.

"Huh, not much." He watched the bright, intelligent eyes sweeping across the sheet, those full, red lips pursing as she tilted her head slightly, reading his scrawl.

She threw the sheet down on the table, leaning over it. Jay looked down, averting his eyes as he mumbled, "I know, I know, its terrible. I'll just-"

"You designed this for me?"

He stopped from where he was half stood up from his chair, twisting back to face her.

"Umm, yeah…"

He stopped, watching her closely. Her shoulders dropped and he felt his soul plunging with them. She hated it. He should have known, it was a bad idea from the go. He should never have even started it, knowing how precious her mech was to her and how independent she was. And let's face it, his designs were just so, so _bad_ lately…

"Well you were saying how cold you were getting at night in the suit, flying and all that, and so I thought I would see if I could find a way to divert some of the heat from the boosters but, I know it's a bad idea and I should not have tried to meddle with your designs, but I thought a little heat on the seat would help and-"

He stopped as she held up a single finger, silencing the torrent of babble instantly. He swallowed.

"You thought you would design me a heated seat? For inside the samurai x suit?"

He swallowed, nodding slowly. "Uh, yeah."

She looked up, those long dark eyelashes blinking up at him as she straightened, the oil smear down her cheek nearly hiding that little mole he found so cute. She fixed him with the trademark Smith stare, and he felt his insides go to jelly. _Oh no…_

"Oh, Jay that's amazing!"

He nearly dropped her as she suddenly bounded over, throwing herself into his arms, the hug crushing the breath from him.

"R-really?"

"Oh my gosh yes! I mean, the way you've routed the energy from here," she turned and stabbed at the discarded sheet on the table. "this would probably burn me and the whole mech alive in seconds, but the idea is fabulous!"

She looked back at him, arms thrown around his neck as she appraised him, her smile melting those jellied insides away.

"Its so thoughtful Jay. And that's what I love about you." She leaned in, her soft lips finding his gently. And that was it, he was lost to her forever. He returned the kiss, jellied insides slowly reforming with the tingling heat of the kiss. Reluctantly, he broke away, gazing into the eyes of this amazing, strong woman who allowed him to love her.

"Love you too, Nya. I love you too."


	7. Steam

**So today is my wedding anniversary, and I felt compelled to write a wee bit of Kailor, but it's a bit angsty, not in your face romancey, but it is exactly the sort of thing I know my husband would do for me.**

 **Dedicated to my long suffering husband!**

 **Steam**

The water was so hot, even for him, that he could feel his skin tingling, his skin turning red as soon as he stepped into that scorching, stinging hot stream. He closed his eyes, letting the water cascade round his neck, down his chest in fast flowing torrents. As he opened his eyes, he numbly watched the red pooling around his feet before swirling down the plug hole. A relentless stream of red, stream of blood. Relentless.

He held his hands up, turning them over and eying the bruising knuckles, frowning as he furiously beginning to wipe at the blood that was caught in the cracks and callouses of his hands.

The hands which had been clasped together tightly, not yet more than a couple of hours ago, gripping tightly over the gushing, open...

Kai leant forward, his forehead resting on the tiled shower cubicle wall as he took in slow, laboured breaths, screwing his eyes shut tightly, trying to ignore the incessant banging on the locked bathroom door.

"Kai?"

Thud, thud, thud...

Water running through his hair, pooling and gushing down his face. Red dripping from his chin onto the floor, joining the swirling red river around his feet.

Thud...

"Kai?"

"I'm busy!"

The tone had been sharper than he'd intended, louder, and he hoped the crack on the end hadn't been too obvious over the noise of the water cascading around him.

"Oh Kai."

He looked up, a hand quickly pushing the sodden spikes back from his eyes as he clocked her before him.

"How did you…?" But he knew the answer before the sentence was finished, eying the dissipating smoke trails surrounding her as she stepped out of the shadows in the dimly lit room.

He sniffed, straightening himself up as he watched her sliding the cubicle door open and stepping in, taking the time only to shed her orange gi jacket and belt, throwing them on the tiled floor with his own, blood stained gi.

"Skylor what are you doing, if Wu catches you in here... and you're getting soaked!"

Her lips gave a thin smile as she tucked now soaked red hair behind her ears, reaching out and taking his hands in hers.

"S'okay. Wu knows I'm here." He blinked, more than just the shower water and steam filling his eyes.

"It's okay Kai. It's all okay." She pulled him to her, standing under the steaming water with him, a hand carding through the flopped brown tangle of hair as his shoulders started to silently shudder.

As the sobs finally ceased racking through him she reached for the flannel, soaping it up then gently running it over his hands and chest, removing the lingering traces of blood that was mingled with his own. He silently watched, eyes low.

"He's okay?" His voice was barely audible, a rough crack of emotion.

She looked up, standing on her tip toes in her soaked gi pants and tee, pushing the last of the blood tinged shampoo from out of his hair.

She met his gaze and softly smiled, quickly twisting the hair back up into ruffled spikes.

"He's okay. And you're okay; I've got you."


	8. One Red Hot Mess

**So I have a confession to make... I originally asked the lovely Speedythecat if I could use her OC Rain Valentine for the Ninjago Valentine's Week Challenge way back at the start of February... and I've only just managed to get round to writing it! I'm really sorry Speedy, and I hope I've done your amazing OC justice and have kept to her character (if you haven't seen Rain you just must look her up, she's a stunning OC).**

 ****Rain Valentine belongs to Speedythecat (in case you hadn't realised...)****

* * *

 _ **One Red Hot Mess**_

"You are so gonna lose this one, Walker." Kai slammed his fist down, rolling back his sleeve fiercely and bracing himself, holding onto the edge of the heavy stone workbench top with his free hand.

Jay chortled, eyebrows pinched together as he mirrored Kai, rolling up his own blue sleeve and grabbing a hold of the opposite side of the worktop.

"Oh, you think so, do you? Fire isn't the only thing that gets hot around here, you know?"

"Uh guys, I dunno if this is such a good idea…" Cole immediately quietened as the two elemental masters turned and frowned, shushing the earth elemental down.

"Okay. Well, don't say I didn't tell you so when you both manage to burn the monastery down. Again." Cole looked pointedly at the fire elemental, who rolled his eyes in response before turning his attention back to Jay, muttering under his breath _one time, and they won't let me forget it…_

"Not going to happen, Cole. We're miles beneath the actual building in here anyhow." Jay gestured around the old dragon stables cut into the stone of the mountainside, now converted into the ninjas' equivalent of a garage, complete with pieces of machinery scattered amongst various vehicles. "And trust me, I'm going to whoop Kai's butt before he can manage to create any havoc."

"Yeah, yeah. Quit stalling, blabbermouth, and show me whatcha got." Kai leaned in, his eyes narrowing but the flicker of amber plain to see within the dark irises. Jay grinned, matching Kai, his own blue eyes sparkling.

"Let's do this."

"Okay, well here goes nothing." Cole placed the two plugs of iron down in front of the pair, eyes appraising both. "So the winner is the one who manages to melt their own piece of iron first. No cheating, no touching the metal beyond what was agreed. You both ready?"

Kai gave a quick nod whilst Jay sniggered.

"Okay then, on the count of three. Three, two, one…go!"

The dimly lit cavern sparked into light as the two powers ignited, Kai's flames soon flickering and burning brightly as Jay quickly coiled wire around his iron rod then began striking it with his own lightning. Kai's eyes widened as Jay's rod within the makeshift coils gradually began to glow, the fire ninja blinking hard then refocusing his efforts on his own rod, the fire tendrils glowing white as they flickered and licked around the iron.

"What in this realm are you two doing?!" Rain's soft, puzzled voice made all three accomplices jump, causing Jay to shoot a sudden, stronger bolt of electricity through into his magnetised coil, sending it flying across the benchtop into Kai's now glowing one. The equally shocked fire elemental yelped and sent the two rods cascading into the back wall with a ball of white hot fire, the shelf it had barrelled into collapsing with an ear splitting, flaming cascade.

"Kai, you idiot!"

"What? That wasn't just me, Jay."

The two bundled over to the wall, Cole shaking his head as the two rallied over to the smoking mess.

"Well would you look at that." Jay snickered, pointing at the molten pile seeping around the makeshift coils he had created. "Looks like mine had melted… _first!"_

"Yeah, intertwined with mine, Blueboy. It probably hit mine which melted it in the first place. This proves nothing"

Cole gingerly prodded at the heap of metal and broken shelving on the floor with a hastily grabbed stick, hissing under his breath and jumping back as fresh smoke rose up, curling around them as a molten mass ran down the heap onto the stone floor. "Guys, what is that?"

"It'll just be the iron, Cole."

"Nope. That aint molten iron, it looks a bit like-"

"No!" All three scattered as Rain pushed the brothers out of the way, silver hair billowing behind her as she threw herself down on her knees, a hand shakily hovering over the molten mass.

"Umm, Rain?"

Rain ignored Jay, her head shaking in disbelief as she stared at the mess.

"My glass. My glass sculptures." Her voice was low, shaky as she blinked heavily, eyes not leaving the now cooling mess before them. The three looked to each other, eyes wide as they comprehended what had happened, Cole's mouth forming a silent "oh". Jay elbowed the red ninja, not taking his eyes from the crime scene.

"You are so for it, Kai." Kai stepped back indignantly, glaring at the blue ninja.

"Me? Why me? If I recall you were also-"

"What have you done?" Rain suddenly stood, fists curled as she straightened herself up. Cole marvelled as he noted her freckles appearing to stop still, freezing to attention.

"We're sorry Rain," Kai nudged Jay, who nodded quickly in agreement. "But I'm sure you can make some more-"

"They took me months! And the one I had been making for Lloyd!" She stopped, eyes blazing as she surveyed the molten mess before flicking back up and locking onto Kai's. "Why do you always have to be so, so…reckless!?"

As she screamed the last word the bare glass bulbs illuminating the dark corners of the cavern shattered, Cole and Jay ducking and lifting their arms against the flying, glinting shards.

Kai tilted his chin up, amber within his eyes flaring as he stared the Master of Glass down, folding his arms. "Now hold on. It was an accident, and not just my-"

"What in the name of my grandfather is going on in here? Rain?" Lloyd's entrance immediately defused the situation, Kai's shoulders heaving as he took a breath and stepped back, looking away. The green ninja tilted his head, perplexed. "Guys?"

Jay grabbed hold of Kai's arm, nudging the grumbling red ninja towards the nearest exit, Cole quickly side stepping alongside him. "It was an accident, Lloyd. Rain's sculptures got, err, melted. And we're, um, sorry." Jay shot Lloyd with an apologetic smile before ducking out of the exit, bundling Kai out with Cole's assistance, sending a last wary look to Rain. His expression melted as he saw the grief in her haunted eyes. "We really are sorry." And with a last shove and push the three exited, Cole's brash _I told you so_ echoing through the silent garage.

Lloyd quickly stepped over to his girlfriend, wrapping her in his arms and running a gloved hand slowly through her silky hair. After a few moments he leaned back, cupping her cheek gently.

"This isn't the first time your sculptures have been broken by accident, but you seem really, _really_ upset about it this time."

Rain bit her lip, looking down.

"You also kinda looked like you were going to give Kai a pasting there…"

She smiled lightly, slowly raising her eyes to Lloyds.

"He would have deserved it."

"Huh, no doubt." Lloyd gently pulled her chin up to him, planting a tender kiss against her lips. Rain smiled lightly, exhaling softly, not resisting as Lloyd pulled her over to the seats at the workbench in the centre of the room.

"So why so upset?"

Rain took a breath, shaking her head and averting her eyes, mumbling softly. "One of the sculptures… was a Valentines gift for you."

"Oh!" Lloyd's eyebrows rose, his eyes lighting up. "That, that was really sweet."

"Yeah and now you won't get to see it. Ever." Rain's voice was soft, no longer laced with anger but tinged with sadness.

"What was it?" Lloyd looked over at the shimmering mess in the corner, smoke tendrils now dying out amongst the molten iron and glass peppered with shards of wood.

"Your dragon."

"Sweet!"

Rain looked up shyly, her eyes seeking his. "You would have liked it?"

The green ninja practically bounced in his seat, red eyes glowing. "Are you kidding me? I would have loved it!" He paused, eyes looking inward and brows furrowing. Rain giggled, jabbing him in the ribs.

"Your thinking face does not suit you! What are you plotting?"

"Oh well thank you very much!" Lloyd leaned forward, taking her hands in his, rubbing his thumbs over her soft skin.

"We should make it again."

Rain looked up, confused. "We?"

"Yeah. Both of us. You could show me how, we could work on it together." Rain held his gaze, taking in the bright red orbs, the cute little fangs protruding slightly as he grinned. "It will be awesome."

"But you can't work glass."

Lloyd shook his head, his smile wide and infectious. "But I'm the destined green ninja, I'm sure you can make use of some of my powers. Or at the very least I can get you drinks, and maybe a piece of candy or two whilst you work on it."

Rain smiled, taking his face in her hands and planting a firm kiss on his mouth. "You sure? I mean, it can't really be your Valentine's gift now, now that you know about it."

"Are you for real? It'll be an even better gift!"

Rain tilted her head, eyes questioning. Lloyd shook his head again, blond hair flopping across his forehead as he grasped her waist and pulled her towards him, hugging her tightly before tucking stray silver hair behind her ear and whispering into it softly.

"Because we'll have made it together. So it'll be perfect."


End file.
